You know the form by now, a few notes and lots, lots and lots of photos. Sunflowers in the spotlight this time, Helianthus annuus, laid out in two double rows at the bottom of the Trial Fields at RHS Wisley, and glorious they are too.
I admit that these photos aren’t really going to tell you how floriferous the varieties are, or even the size of the flower-heads, or the height of the plants (many are sky-scraping and not even thinking about setting flower yet and so of course I’ve no photograph of these at all – honestly, what help is that? Russian Giant would be a good bet for a school competition if you want an inside bet…). But I had a smile on my face as I walked up and down the rows and none were disappointing, while many were quite astonishingly bright and very beautiful. Of course the impact was multiplied by having so many of them, but I’ll seriously have to think about where I can grow my sunflowers next year (where is my allotment placement eh?).
The Teddington Gardener 